Meddy was locked in her room. She sat by the other side of bedroom door and hugged her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. It was time like these she hated her Daddy. He never came home or called, and only god knows what he was doing researching under the Ministry. Meddy tried to concentrate and picture her father, scruffy and worn out the last time he appeared before their doorstep for a 'short stay' - but she couldn't. His image was blurry, his form unsettled and changing. What was his face like again? Daddy had a meek smile, she remembered that. He was tall and lanky and had a dimple one one side. Which side was it.. Mother hardly talked about him anymore, and over time Meddy learnt to cover his memory over with a blanket, and forget.
Slowly, she calmed down. Her eyes were numb and heavy, a lump formed in her throat. Just like that, covered in tears and not-so-glamorous snot Meddy drifted off to sleep.
-
Meddy woke up with light streaming in through her window blinders. "Huh?" she croaked. Her eyelids were pretty thick, heck, they were swollen. She stared up at the ceiling, vaguely remembering someone calling her. The morning light fell gently on the wall, all at once springing forth and illuminating the room. What a beautiful morning.
"Meddy! It's 9am already, Miss Sunshine!"
She let out a groan. Too lazy to stick to the morning routine Meddy pushed past the door and slumped onto the dining chair. She leaned her head on her elbows and mumbled, "Pancakes mum.."
"What?" Mother was staring at her. She seemed to have snapped out of it as she busied herself with breakfast - raspberry pancakes and chocolate milk, mmm..
Meddy's eyes roamed about the kitchen, stopping short of a figure at the corner of the table. It was him, right hand propping his face. He was looking at her, staring intensely into her eyes. A shiver ran down her spine. The black tattoo around his wrist only made it worse. This guy isn't human.
"Gabriel, would you mind fixing the cable for us? It blew out a couple weeks ago, in the living room."
"Thanks," Mother called out as he left the room. Pause.
Mother's expression suddenly turned serious. Leaning into Meddy, she said sternly "I know this is all so new to you, but Gabriel is part of our family now, and I want you to show him around after school, no buts." There was an edge in her voice that Meddy couldn't place. Meddy chalked it up to her imagination. Albeit reluctantly she conceded. She wasn't in the mood to bicker today.
"Have a good day at school, Meddy," the guy seemed to chirp as Meddy walked past him, on her way to school. She tried not to notice him and his ever-present smile as she swiftly made her exit straight from the living room out of the house.
-
"Good morning!" Meddy plastered a smile as she approached Kate and Josie. It was a normal morning, and as they chattered Meddy gradually distanced from the conversation. All the while their incessant jabbering never gave in to a break. For the first time that day Meddy smiled. At least her 'family' matters couldn't permeate and mess up the morning gossips.
Satisfied having properly covered up her morning's affairs, Meddy headed for the study hall and logged in. It was a particularly long session that day. Meddy had difficulty concentrating as the guy's smile kept on creeping up on her. She could've sworn he was standing right behind her waiting for his chance to pounce and rip off a chunk of her flesh. As speeches of past presidents played in her head the voices started mingling and morphing, calling out to her, he was coming for her.
Suddenly the voices disappeared and Meddy found herself catching her breath, her heart pounding. As light filled her world she saw Josie wave her arm out in front of her. "Hey, you alright?" She had force-stopped the study program. Meddy stumbled out of her chair and struggled to regain her footing.
"Thanks Josie."
"No prob… Hey, meet me outside the music rooms at 4pm, I wanna show you something." With that she disappeared towards the exit of the study hall. Meddy realised the hall was almost empty by then. She headed to the cafeteria to grab a bite, irritated by the shrill voices from the table behind her seat and their hysterical laughter. She toyed with the idea of napping under a tree in the grass patch outside, but thought better of it. She didn't want to be alone.
With a half-eaten wrap in one hand and bubble tea in the other, Meddy wandered around the school compounds, musing how every single room practically looked the same - deserted and empty. There were rooms for art. They were just room with blank monitors everywhere. There were multi-sports room, but returned to their default white empty state when no one was using them. Then there were the music rooms. At least they weren't completely barren, with whacky electrical instruments leaning against the walls. Ever since the purges they remodeled the electric guitar violins and other instruments into unrecognizable forms, to put the past behind them. The names stuck though. Meddy wondered what happened with Josie. Josie had played the piano from a young age, but never mentioned much about it to Kate and Meddy. Meddy couldn't understand half of what Josie says about calibrating the piano tones and overtones or whatever, and well, she guessed Kate didn't really care altogether. But Meddy always admired Josie for that. To be able to appreciate such a fluid art form despite the rigid-y school life was enviable.
At that moment someone grabbed Meddy from behind and pulled her into one of the music rooms. It was dark and Meddy couldn't figure who it was. She let out a yelp when the person hushed her. "Meddy, calm down. It's just me."
It was Josie. She slowly released her grip on her as Meddy's muscles relaxed and she stopped struggling. Meddy turned around and shot Josie a deadly look. She was having a rough day and wasn't in the mood for spring attacks. Josie held both her hands up and shrugged, grinning "I told you I had something to show you."
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